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The F1 Marathon

I have been meaning to write this post for 15 days now… but life has been quite busy. Isn’t that my excuse every single time?

The NGO Running and Living organized a marathon on the F1 track in Greater Noida. I was doing the 10k… there is a long way to go before I can attempt the half marathon. I registered online, paid 1200 bucks (expensive) and picked up my goodie bag from Reebok store in CP. The goodie bag had a Reebok tee and a offer coupon for their new launch- Zquick shoes. One of my friends who is a ex-colleague was also game for the 10k and we left for Noida at 5 am. The marathon started at 6.45 am and I thought 5 am was decent enough. Wrong!!! Greater Noida is another 30 mins from Noida… even at that hour and we reached the start line exactly at 6.45 am. For me, the first 2-3 km are the most difficult… I am still trying to get into the running zone… but after that… its too damn great. I never get tired at the end… or bored… I am sure, if I try I can easily run for another 2-3 km. After the 1st km, I remember thinking… This is so great.. I am so lucky to be here… to be doing this… running on the F1 track (of all places). I wish I could move to Greater Noida and run on the F1 track everyday. Nope, thats not happening.

Here are some pics:

The run was very well organized… there were hydration points at every 2.5 km… there was a lady with a medal where the run ended and she was putting it around everyone’s necks. We received our timing certificates immediately and were even allowed to take out the car though the half marathon was not yet over. It has been my most enjoyable run ever. I completed the 10k in 1 hr 15 mins which is 5 mins less than what I do regularly.

After the run KD (the friend) and I went for b’fast to Sarvana Bhawan. It serves yummy south indian food.

Once the run was over I realized there are holes in my Puma shoes near the toe area. This pissed me off…. the shoes cost 4k and within 6 months they have holes. I have only used them for running… and it has been some 250 km only. I took them back to the shop… it has been 15 days and there is no communication from the company (but of course). I am never buying Puma again. Shitty brand. And so the search for a new pair started. This time I decided to spend more money (double) so that the shoes would last atleast a year, if not more. I wanted Nike because I have their apparels and the quality is much much superior to Puma but decided to check out Reebok and Adidas. Plus, there was the offer coupon from Reebok which I could use. I visited the outlets at Ambience Mall and was appalled by the lack of knowledge. If I am spending 7-10k on a pair of shoes the salesman better know atleast some jargon. All they told me was… these are running shoes… and very good. Huh???? What about all the technology they advertise? Whats the point if the salesman does not know it at the POS? Thankfully, at the Nike store the sales guy knew his stuff… he recommended shoes specifically for long distance running and I bought them. Now comes the challenge of breaking into them. I wore them today for the 1st long run and by the end of 12 km my legs were hurting. I still had 1-2 km to reach home since I didn’t calculate the route correctly… with no money and no phone I hired an auto and borrowed the money from the building guard (and promptly paid me afterwards).